In 1669, Georg Franz Müller (1646−1723) from Alsace traveled for eleven months from Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) and then spent 13 years on various Indonesian islands as a soldier in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Cod. Sang. 1278, which supplements his illustrated travel diary (Cod. Sang. 1311), gives a chronological account of his travels; in addition, there are detailed descriptions of people, plants and animals he encountered in the Far East and on his voyage there (pp. 1-457). This copy, completed by two scribes at the Monastery of Mariaberg near Rorschach between 1701 and 1705, contains in an appendix (pp. 460-489) two smaller-format collections of documents with the listing “souvenir pieces”, which Georg Franz Müller brought back to Europe from his stay in East India. In various places, Müller corrected and/or completed this copy. (smu)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

The special feature of this Esther scroll (on 4 sheets with 16 columns of text) are the detailed illustrations of the Book of Esther with the inclusion of motifs from the Midrash literature. These testify to a good knowledge of the Bible and the rabbinical commentaries. The depiction of Jews in festive dress with barrette and white ruffled collar (“Judenkragen”) points to a Western European milieu. In fact, the roll was created in Amsterdam. The scribe of this early and prototypical megillah with a printed decorative frame, Jacob from Berlin, wrote his name in the opening panel and dated the manuscript to the 18th century. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020